Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

BRISTLY BUTTERCUP

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Ranunculus hispidus Michx. var. hispidus

Cherokee County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 6-28 inches

Family: Ranunculaceae - Buttercup Family

Flowering Period: April, May, June, July

Also Called:

Hairy buttercup.

Stems:

Erect, stout, bristly-hairy.

Leaves:

Alternate, 3-foliolate, broadly ovate-cordate in outline, 1 to 5.6 inches long, 1 to 8 inches wide; leaflets ovate to rhombic, 2- or 3-lobed or cleft, irregularly toothed; basal leaves largest; stalks 2 to 12 inches long, bristly-hairy; stem leaves short-stalked, blade in 3s, leaflets ovate to oblanceolate.

Inflorescences:

1-8, from leaf axils.

Flowers:

About 1 inch across; sepals 5, yellowish-green, spreading or turned-down, egg-shaped, 1/5 to 1/3 inch long, outer surface stiff hairy; petals commonly 5, rarely more, egg-shaped to elliptic, 1/3 to 3/5 inch long, much longer than sepals, yellow, fading to white; stamens 40-70.

Fruits:

Achenes, 15-60 in hemispheric to ovoid head 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick; achene obovate, flattened, 1/12 to 1/5 inch long, narrowly winged, beak awl-shaped, straight or curved.

Habitat:

Moist or dry, often rocky woods, marshes, pastures; sandstone, chert, igneous, acidic soils.

Distribution:

East 1/5 of Kansas.

Origin:

Native

Toxicity:

When consumed in large quantities, some Ranunculus species cause digestive tract irritation in livestock. Sheep are particularly susceptible.

Uses:

Native Americans used the root to pack into the hole of an aching tooth to break up the tooth. The crushed roots of Some Ranunculus were used to treat arrow and gunshot wounds and juice from the leaves as a sedative or taken in tea to treat sore throats.

Comments:

From Latin rana "little frog" because many Ranunculus species are found in moist locales.

Bristly buttercup flower